Lifespan of a Wildflower
by Wynter Spite
Summary: Lily wants to prank James. She enlists Severus's help in doing so, because they are the best of friends. And she knows they always will be.
1. Joy of a Wildflower

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I do go all fangirl over SlightlyNice!Snape, though.**

* * *

Lily lay flat on her back in the grass, gazing up at the sky. White clouds drifted by and leaves swirled, buoyed by a chill breeze.

"Hey, Sev . . ." she began thoughtfully. ". . . you know what we should do?"

Beside her, Severus turned his head to look at her. "What?"

Lily, too, moved her head to look at him and grinned mischievously. "We should totally prank Potter."

He blinked at her. His eyes were so dark, she thought admiringly. He was surely going to have a million girls after him. She didn't say it aloud, though. He would probably just go all bashful. He was so adorable!

"How?" she realized he'd just said.

"Well . . ." she drew the word out. "I was thinking of, oh, maybe a potion in his drink or something?"

"What would it do?" Sev questioned, a little bit worriedly. What a cutie!

She shrugged. "Nothing too bad . . . an ear goes flying there, maybe a finger rolling here . . ."

Severus looked alarmed.

She cracked up. "Relax, Sev! I was joking, I swear. Well, maybe . . ."

"With you, Lily," He sighed, "I never know."

"You know what they say," she said cheerfully. "'Unpredictability makes the heart grow fonder.' Or something like that."

The next day, Lily went up to James Potter at dinner. He was obnoxious as always. She flirted with him a bit and slipped the potion Sev had helped her make into his drink, then gave her goodbyes and walked back to her friend. They watched him drink from his cup.

"Plan 'Potter Annihilation' is in motion," she whispered.

"'Annihilation'? Lily . . ."

She laughed, patting him on the back. "Don't worry. It's all in good fun! Our fun, I mean. Perhaps not his."

The day after that, Potter's hair reached his knees.

Lily stared. "That . . . isn't quite what I was expecting."

"Wasn't it meant to make his hair grow?" Severus asked.

"Well, yeah, but . . . I didn't expect it to look so good." She stood there for a moment, gazing at Potter thoughtfully, then smiled up at Severus. "It's not as good as yours, though."

He could feel himself flushing. Ever since Lily had cast that spell on him that made his hair deep blue with dots of white that glittered in it, making it look like the night sky, he'd started taking better care of his hair. She'd only taken it off because he'd done that, and also because he didn't like all the attention he'd been getting.

Lily, too, was remembering that episode, and she felt a sudden rush of fondness for her friend. She wove her arm through his and hugged him to her. "We'll be friends forever!" she told him.

Her smile lit his world.


	2. Where the Wildflowers Grow

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. But I do have a stick I found on the ground somewhere that's vaguely shaped like a wand.**

* * *

One day, Lily Evans found herself cornered in the library by one James Potter. Really, she fumed, if the man had an Animagus form, it would probably be some kind of insect. Like a gnat. "Would you stop bugging me, Potter?" she snapped, inwardly smirking at her quip. It didn't matter that she was the only one who knew it was a quip. It was there, and it was amusing.

"No," Potter said, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning at her, frustrated. "Why do you hang out with Snape? What's so good about him?"

Lily paused and thought back . . .

* * *

Lily rubbed her arm, wincing. Severus, of course, immediately noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

She waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine. A student just bumped into me and I was pushed into the wall."

"Who?" he demanded.

"No one," she protested. "It's fine. She immediately apologized for not watching where she was going. No harm done."

He was still frowning. "Are you sure you shouldn't see the Medical Ward, just in case?"

"I'm sure." She smiled at him fondly. "I think of you as a sister, you know."

He raised one black eyebrow. "A sister?"

"I can't help it," she defended. "You're just so . . . motherly!"

"Oh? Motherly, am I?"

"Very," she confirmed, cracking a grin.

He straightened, eyeing her with a predatory gleam in his eye. He twisted his lips into a salacious leer. "Still maternal?"

"Why, Mr. Snape." She placed a hand over her chest and batted her lashes. "You do make my heart flutter."

"Oh, no, Ms. Evans. I don't want your heart to flutter." His black eyes lit up and a wide smile spread across his face. "I want it to fly."

Lily stared at her friend in awe.

His smile faded slightly, but not by much. She hoped that it would never disappear completely.

"Too much?"

"Oh, no. Not at all." She fanned herself with a hand, still feeling slightly overcome. "Wow. I think I need to catch my breath."

* * *

_Aww_, _Sev_, Lily thought with a rush of affection.

Oh, right. Potter had asked a question, hadn't he?

Lily smiled brightly. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she said cheerfully. She gathered her books and skipped out of the library, leaving Potter staring after her, bewildered.


End file.
